What a peculiar week. I learned again that tragedy can strike anywhere, what things matter, and what things don't.
I also learned that when you do a Google search for "violins" and "Milwaukee" apparently I come up first. Thus I have been asked for quotes on a story that I have no real connection to because all of those directly involved can't speak about it yet.
The first I heard of the news of the stolen Lipinski Strad was from a talk radio reporter who needed to know something about Stradivaris. He called me at work and gave me no details on what had happened or to whom. I gave him general information about how fragile violins can be and why instruments by Antonio Stradivari are so valuable. I didn't know why we were having the conversation, but at least what little of my recorded self I caught on the radio later that day sounded like it added to the discussion in a useful way.
Then I got a call from a local news station asking if they could interview me about it. By then I'd searched online and discovered more details about the crime
and could just not believe it. I wasn't sure what I'd have to offer a TV interviewer on the topic, but I was willing to share what I could.